Elle and Lincoln Have Something In Common

Tomorrow is the 200th birthday of president Abraham Lincoln.  (And he doesn't look a day over 199.)  It is also the 7th birthday of my Elle girl.  So I will wake her up singing Happy Birthday, take her to school, and then proceed to shop for her birthday class party.  That's right, I haven't done a thing to prepare for this.  We are up to our ears in boxes, primer, and paint trying to move into a smaller, but free, house.  I will take her a cookie cake (she doesn't like cake or icing....explain that to me, please), balloons and goody bags for all her classmates in the afternoon after a full morning of preparation which should have happened weeks ago.  I really should be Mom Of The Year.  (Said with sarcasm.)  In 2 weeks, Little Drummer Boy will have his 5th birthday, I think his party will happen in March.  Seriously.  I will let you know when that time comes.  

For now, we will do something special just for Elle with a few close friends on Sunday afternoon.  This is not the best weekend for everyone, but we'll do a movie anyway.  By the way, she has a loose front tooth.  Very wobbly, but she won't let anyone pull it out but Daddy.  She has come into the kitchen at least 4 times since being sent to bed, wondering when he will be home to pull it.  "Tomorrow morning," I say firmly yet again, warning her that the next time will result in dire consequences.  Hopefully, that husband of mine will be able to pull it in the morning, or we may go through all this again tomorrow night!

The Birthday Party

Well, last night was the big surprise party for my father-in-law.  He is amazing, godly, loving, humble and everything you could ask for in a man of God.  He turned 60, and there had to be almost 100 people crammed into his sister-in-law's house.  It was nuts.  We didn't get to bed until 1:30am.  This morning, we met with one side of the family for breakfast, then drove an hour to meet with another side for lunch.  Whew!  

It's really a change for me, because I didn't grow up around family.  It was usually just me and my parents.  So, it's taken me awhile to get used to the idea of everyone wanting to spend lots of time together.  I have to say, I like it!  

I want my children to know their relatives, good or bad, better or worse.  I never had to stay and work things out with family, we were always on the go.  So my recourse when conflict arises is to retreat or just change the subject.  I do that a lot!  I don't get to know people (friends or family) too deeply, in case we disagree and then we may not relate on the same level again.  I am trying harder to connect with those I really love though.  Especially these past few months.  Jesus is teaching me to not worry about this stuff so much.  I had some friends (Ta-Tas) take me out for my birthday earlier this year, and on the way home I was mentioning some of these realizations to one of them.  She looked at me and said, "But what's the worst that could happen?  You've already found out what happens when you put your heart out there, good or bad, so why not do it?  What's the worst that could happen if you let people in?"  

So there you go.

I want to embrace this season, as a time of learning and growing.  Thanks to my friends and family who are patient with me, and encourage me even when I don't express my heart fully.

Wow.  This was kind of a deep post.  I'll try to be a little lighter next time.

Here We Go!

Okay.  So I finally decided to try this.  I haven't blogged because I was always saying, "I don't have time..." (Daphne is rolling her eyes right now.)  And then my niece, Rachel, started blogging and I wanted to subscribe to her blog.  Once I started entering in my information I realized I may as well start a blog.  So hopefully I can keep it up, and maybe more than one person will read it.  Also, I'm hoping to post information on the "photography art" Elle and I do together.  

So, if you read this, thanks!  I hope you check out the other blogs I like.